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Thank you.That was well said.

So far, here is my view:

This is MUST VIEW for not only NEW magicians, but us OLD timers as well! Back in 2003 I was busily coming up with new magic ideas. Gimmicks, hookups, self-animated stuff, and ways of using mirrors. How much did I release? And what media was it on? ZERO. NADA. For all the reasons Craig mentioned. All my notes were lost in the foreclosure, so...

Learn from Craig's mistakes! And Craig, in my opinion, you are forgiven for RED. Even the very BEST make mistakes. No one is exempt from that reality. Every person on this planet has done something they wish they hadn't. I can think of a few things myself. I can NEVER got to FaceBook again. Talk about mistakes and LEARNING from them!

Doug

These posts by Craig are pure gold.

Craig, I agree with Doug that you are forgiven for RED. At least, by any reasonable person. I think the way you publicly handled your mistake was good for magic. You said, "I screwed up," owned it and moved on. I've seen other companies and other "creators" trying to justify their actions with excuses who then keep their products on the shelves looking to keep making a buck (or...pound) rather than doing the right thing and pulling their product and apologizing. These are the folks who need to be raked over the coals and publicly humiliated, rather than the guy who deals with it properly.

With so much stuff out there it's an easy mistake to make, even if you are well-read, as you mentioned. The test of character comes in how you handle the mistake, which I think you handled admirably.

And now you get the added benefit, which I'm sure you don't want, of being able to tell others what not to do in a video like this. It's great though Craig, because... you have so much experience in magic, both good and bad, we are all just blessed to have someone around like yourself who is willing to share these experiences and we can learn without having to fall on our face. If we're smart enough to listen.

I compare your situation to someone who struggled with drugs that now goes to schools to tell kids not to do drugs. For them, there might be some shame in having been an addict, but what they're doing is admirable. Then, they realize that the kids at the school don't look down on them at all, but genuinely appreciate the effort made by the person in sharing their story with them. In time, the drug addict realizes they don't need to feel shame anymore, they just accept that their mistakes helped make them who they are and now they can help others. I say this as the former drug addict who went to the schools to share with kids the dangers of doing drugs and drinking to excess.

The only thing we have to say to you is thank you. I'm so looking forward to your next video.

Thank you very much guys. I am really trying to make this show different to anything else out there. Yes there are reviews but I want it to be so much more.

To hear feedback like this makes me very happy.

Thank you so much!

Craig

Craig, is absolutely correct, this is happening all the time. Somee that knows very little about magic and learned it on YouTube, now thinks he has invented the greatest trick in the world.

I am actually dumbfounded at this, and dealer like Penguin Magic actually puts it up for sale.

Having asked a number of cquestions on Penguin and never gotten a decent answer, mostly, I don't know, is proof enough that they don't even looks at any of their products.


Here is an example of what Craig is speaking about:

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......forum=37

It is for sale on Penguin Magic right now!

http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/8173


Craig, please looking to the camera while speakicng, so I feel like you are speaking to me.

I've been doing magic since I was 12 I'm now 64. I've created nothing new and every time I come up with a clever idea with just a little research I find that it has been done in someway by someone else. Their are a lot of magic in books that have been published and it is almost impossible to truly come up with a new card sleight. Notice I said almost impossible. Of course you can create an effect that is new but is it really better than what already exists.

Great stuff Craig. Love the passion, and it takes guts to fess up to the past...although personally I think you are a bit hard on yourself. But the lesson is a very good one.

As a hobbyist I love the selection of magic available to me, but, I've also been burned many, many times with over-hyped crap. And I have a good memory. So those "creators" will need to work really hard in the future to earn back my respect...and my dollars.

"Red" aside, I remember it happening but don't know what the effect was (or who's it was originally), I looked past it on day one. I felt it was a mistake and mistakes happen. You have however brought a ton of great material to the magic world and I truly think a "little something" would be lost without you. Two great examples (for me) are "Split Happens" and "Flipped Out". These are By Far the Most Useful resources for their respective gimmicks. I can't count the number of times I see someone post - "I just got this new coin gaff. What do I do with it now"? If it is a Flipper or a Split Coin, I just point them toward these two dvds. (side note, I need to check out your "Blank" and "Locked in a Room Without Coins" dvds) I am a big card guy and also love working with all 3 types of Blanks.

Research clearly needs to be done when "creating" and there are very knowledgeable folks out there who will help or at least point you in a direction (that statement was meant for new creators, not you Craig ). I do believe that there really is "nothing new" in magic to a point. Props, gaffs, presentation/method changes... are exceptions but I also believe that People can independently come up with an idea that was "out there" but they had never seen it. One case I distinctly remember was a young man from Asia (IIRC) who had a nice little move he came up with and Penguin released it as a ($5-$10 download?). Soon after, someone accused him of ripping off Harry Lorayne and a day or so later, it was pulled. I believe I read at one point that someone said "There is no way he was not familiar with the Lorayne move" but I have to disagree. Not everyone in magic has an extensive library or is familiar with All the "famed" magicians from every country. He very well could have come up with it on his own and didn't have the means to search every similar move.

A lot of sleights that I learned early on in my career were just taught to me by my mentor who was a very knowledgeable magician (he just kept teaching me more moves leaving out the history lesson - and crediting. That early on in magic, I did not even know crediting was a big deal. Fortunately, after 20+ years, I have an extensive library and know many sources for crediting, even though I myself, am not a creator.

Anyway, love the show, VERY HAPPY to see you get your own subforum right there with WPR. Keep you the great content and keep being "YOU".

Edit: Should have read "Keep UP the great content and keep being "YOU"

That is invaluable for anyone releasing magic.